I was driving north on Rt 12 in North Carolina this afternoon on a straight, flat, smooth section of road. Suddenly I heard a subtle rumble from my right rear tire for about 4-5 seconds and then it went away as suddenly as it started. Everything was good and I didn't really give it another thought. A few minutes and a couple of miles later my, I noticed my right rear tire was going flat. I pulled over and changed it.

When I got home, I had a chance to really go over the tire that went flat. I can't find a puncture anywhere. The tread looks good. What I did find was a tan glob of some incredibly sticky substance on the tire. I mean, really, really sticky. It had grass stuck to it from where I pulled over. I scraped it off at home and can't find any damage to the tire underneath.

I'm assuming the rumbling sound was when the glob got stuck to the tire and rolled with it. Then much of it came off. Maybe it threw the tire/wheel out of balance enough to loose air? Is that even possible?

I'm at a total loss. I have no idea what the stuff was on the tire. It had the appearance of a tan grease - like Mercury Marine grease. But it was super sticking and gooey.

There is a lot of road construction going on in the opposite direction. The state is replacing a major bridge over an inlet. I'm thinking the glob was some kind of industrial substance maybe related the bridge.

Maybe some kind of runflat tech?

Yeah. The goop sounds like it may have leaked out from within.

Was it more of a reddish-tan color?

M,

Back in the old days, when you would actually change your own tires, we would pump up the tire and put it in a basin of soapy water. The leak would show by bubbling in the water. But that was before the days of run-flats, and such.

H&K-Guy

The tire is a relatively new BF Goodrich tire. Nice tires, but it doesn't have any run flat tech in it. And I've never, or even needed to, pump any sort of sealant into it. I think the crap came off the road.

I'm going to have to replace the tire. I had to roll on it about 100 yards because where it went completely flat there are no shoulders and no place to safely jack it up. I had to roll up the road and turn left into a visitors center and change it there. While the tread and sidewalls have no noticeable trauma, the tire now has a ring around the sidewall from having to roll on it flat. That doesn't bother me too much as it has a road hazard warranty.

I just can't see any reason the damned thing went flat to to begin with.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
Was it more of a reddish-tan color?

No, it was the color of tan grease. Like this.



It was stickier than a glob of pine resin.

Has the tire ever been repaired (i.e. flat repair)?

Have you over pressurized the tire and checked for leaks? You could have a puncture that appears closed when not under pressure.
I guess it is possible that if the substance was sticky enough it could have distorted the tire enough to cause the seal along the rim to separate enough to lose air but i think thats really pushing it.

It's never been repaired. Maintained at appropriate pressure. And about 75% tread left.

I can't figure it out. There may be a puncture in it somewhere that I am just not seeing. There is no nail or anything. The tread and grooves look good.

I can't figure out why if I ran over something why it didn't hit the front tire instead of the rear.

Maybe the glob is just throwing me off from the real cause.

This is a dumb question but have you tried to inflate the tire? Does it hold air?

Well, I don't know then. It sure sounds like a plug repair that blew out.

quote:

Originally posted by Gene Hillman:
This is a dumb question but have you tried to inflate the tire? Does it hold air?

I may try and blow it up tomorrow but appears to be somewhat off the rim so I don't know if I will be able to.

The whole things bugs the hell out of me. I'm driving along at 50-55 mph, car in front of me and behind. Bright sunny day. Never saw anything in the road. Just heard the bumping that went away after a few seconds then 2-3 miles later I am completely flat. If I hit something, it's just weird to me that its the right rear tire.

Could have a puncture that only leaks when the tire flexes or it could be leaking around the rim.



This is the type of plug I've used in the past and they're really sticky. You may have picked up the excess cutoff from someone else's repair on the road by shear coincidence.

quote:

If I hit something, it's just weird to me that its the right rear tire.

It could have hit the front tire first, but with the pointy side down.

Valve core loose?

lots of options for what happened. inflate it and spray it with a soapy mix or dunk it and see where its leaking. If the bead is broken you will probably have trouble inflating it without some additional steps and effort. Most good tire dealers I know will check it and tell you what's up.

Maybe you ran over an alien?

quote:

Maybe you ran over an alien?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^No. it is karma from what he said about the Beatles.

Would that not be Instant Karma?